Mollie O'Callaghan swept to victory in a 100m freestyle final stacked with class but Emma McKeon's hopes of defending her gold medal in Paris were crushed at Australia's Olympic trials on Friday.
O'Callaghan won in 52.33 seconds, 0.39 seconds clear of runner-up Shayna Jack, who wept after securing the second individual 100m berth three years after missing Tokyo while banned for doping.
McKeon claimed the 50m and 100m gold in a record haul of seven medals at Tokyo but finished sixth in Friday's final and can be selected only for the relays.
O'Callaghan has had a rollercoaster week, swimming superbly while having her 200m freestyle world record swiped in the final by her champion clubmate Ariarne Titmus.
The 20-year-old was disappointed with her 100m swim at the Brisbane Aquatic Centre but glad to top a quality field.
"At the end of the day, trials is just to make it on the team, so I'm pretty stoked with that," she said at the poolside.
"But you know there's that little extra that you want."
DEVASTATED CAMPBELL
A fixture in Australia's 100m freestyle relay teams since the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Cate Campbell was devastated after failing to qualify for the final.
She has an uphill battle to win a 50m freestyle berth and secure a fifth Games appearance.
Her younger sister Bronte, however, finished fourth in the 100m final to nab a spot on the relay team along with Meg Harris (third) and 18-year-old surprise package, Olivia Wunsch (fifth).
Bronte Campbell struggled to hold back tears as she paid tribute to 32-year-old Cate, who won two relay golds at Tokyo and the individual 100m bronze.
"I felt devastated for my sister this morning," she said.
"But she is absolutely incredible. I mean, she held this individual spot in the 100 freestyle for 11 years. I think that's got to be a record in Australia."
Olympic champion Zac Stubblety-Cook earlier qualified for the men's 200m breaststroke final with a time of 2:07.40 and will be joined in Paris by runner-up Joshua Yong.
Ella Ramsay will swim in the women's 200m breaststroke after winning the final in 2:22.87, 24 years on from her father Heath swimming butterfly for Australia at the 2000 Sydney Games.
The favourite Jenna Strauch was second and missed Australia's Olympic qualifying standard but could still swim the event at Paris if selectors use their discretion.
Bradley Woodward, part of Australia's silver medal-winning mixed medley teams at the last two World Championships, booked his first Games by winning the 200m backstroke in 1:56.22.
Favourite Sam Short skipped the 1 500m after struggling with a stomach bug in the lead-up to the trials, leaving Matthew Galea to win the final in 14:58.96.
However, Galea's time was short of Australia's cut-throat qualifying standard (14:54.29), opening the door for selectors to pick Short in the event.
Short, who took the 1 500m bronze at last year's World Championships in Fukuoka, already has a qualifying time in the event and secured one of the 400m berths for Paris this week.